we're continuing to follow the aftermath of the newtown massacre at the sandy hook elementary school. "cnn newsroom" continues now with brooke baldwin who is in newtown, connecticut. i'm brooke baldwin live today in newtown, connecticut, where today the new reality is sinking in. today parents are living alongside an empty room of the child they lost. left behind in that room, pajamas, favorite toys, books they always read together, parents who know this, even the smell of their child's pillow. and these first responders being called heroes, but still day in and day out living with the images no one could have prepared them to see. today, families are deciding on coffins, head stones, choosing songs that will play at the

funerals of first graders. want to tell you about the two little boys who are actually being remembered right now. the funeral for 6-year-old jack pinto began just about an hour ago. jack will be laid to rest today in newtown village cemetery. just a little bit of background on this 6-year-old, jack adored football, his favorite player was new york giants receiver victor cruz. apparently he watched giants games while proudly wearing his cruz jersey. look at that cheek. cruz did pay tribute to his young fan by scribbling jack pinto, my hero. here's the cleat. you can see it. r.i.p. jack pinto. on the other cleat during the game on the past weekend, on his glove, cruz wrote, jack pinto, this one is for you. >> it was emotional. i was fighting back tears to do it. and it felt, you know, felt good. felt good to honor a family that was going through so much.

they seem like a strong family. i spoke to the older brother, and, you know, he was distraught as well. couldn't say much, just how his brother was, you know, i was his brother's favorite player, and he was, you know, he was fighting tears. he could barely speak to me. >> 6-year-old noah pozner will be laid to rest today in nearby connecticut. his aunt said, noah sometimes batted his long eyelashes to try to get what he wanted, and he lit up everyone's heart. >> noah was extremely lively. he was really the light of the room. he had a huge heart, and he was so much fun. a little bit rambunctious, lots of spirit. he loved playing with all of his cousins. he loved his twin the most of all and always said he was, you know, they were best friends.

>> noah's twin sister, ariel, went to sandy hook elementary school. she was assigned to a different classroom than noah, so she escaped the carnage. his twin sister escaped with their 8-year-old sister, sophia. we have been talking about how these families, all around this town and far away, counties away, how they're all coping with this tragedy from friday morning. but let me just point out to you, also struggling right now, the first responders who saw the scene themselves, who met the parents in those moments of confusion and the shock. in fact, just a short time ago, the coroner here in the town, i noticed some wreaths, 26 wreaths being delivered here, and i talked to one firefighter. here is his story. how many wreaths are there? >> 26. >> 26 wreaths. where did they get sent to the firehouse? >> sent to the firehouse through

u.p.s. >> did you know they were coming? >> no. no, they were -- the truck pulled up and she said i have a delivery of 26 wreaths. we unloaded them all and figured we would come up with a place to put them, try to keep them all together, shipped all fwrway fr oregon. >> how long have you been here? >> since friday. >> where are you based out of. >> sandy hook firehouse. >> how long have you been at firehouse? >> we're going home tonight to sleep, but -- >> but years, how many years. >> years. since high school. i'm 38. >> since high school and you're 38. did you ever in a million years think you would be experiencing this in your little town? >> nobody in this town would ever think that. >> where were you when you heard? >> working, work across town. we saw the helicopters. >> when you saw the helicopters, what did you think it was? >> not on the scale it was. one or two. we heard the principal at first

and -- as time went on, we got the reports. and just didn't believe it and came down the road, it was just all surreal. seeing all the cars, all this. it's tough. >> where did you go once you saw the cars? straight to the firehouse? >> straight to the firehouse. from there, we just -- >> help us around the world understand what you, as a first responder, are going through. >> sadness, anger, guilt in some aspects. >> why guilt? what could you have done? >> exactly. we were having counseling. as a group. >> can i get your first and last name? >> name's jeffrey thomas. >> jeffrey thomas.

since high school. what do you make of the preeths, ju wreaths, people you don't know sending you all these wreaths to put up in town. what would you say to the people of portland, oregon? >> thank you. it makes us feel warm to know this is -- it is amazing that people that far away care about us. >> two simple words, thank you. and we have also now learned that the u.s. senate, members of the senate, have observed a moment of silence. want to take a moment here, take a look. >> i now ask that the united states senate observe a moment of silence to honor the victims of the sandy hook elementary school tragedy.

>> mr. president -- >> majority leader. >> the following remarks -- >> just wanted to share that moment with you as we just learned that the floor of the u.s. senate in silence, in memory of the lost lives here in newtown, connecticut. let me also keep you up to speed in terms of the investigation, a possible motive.

we have new details from police that may complicate the search for a motive. >> there was no connection between the shooter and the school according to the school authorities here in newtown. >> none at all? >> according to the school authorities in newtown. >> we have also learned about another survivor of friday's massacre. police say now not one, two adults were shot and wounded at the school, both adults now recovering from injuries. i want to bring in don lemon who has been here for a couple of days here in newtown. let me ask you first, just about nancy lanza, the gunman's mother. you've talked to friends who knew her, what did they share with you? >> they approached me the other night because they said they were hearing some things in the media that they just -- that just didn't ring true to them about nancy lanza and people were in some way, they felt, maybe blaming her for what happened. they said, yes, you know, they said that the shooter did have asperger's syndrome and that he, you know, he was someone -- a kid who kept to himself, but they say she was a responsible

mother and in their estimation a good mother. four of her friends i talked to who all approached me and said, we need to talk about this woman, because she is among the victims and quite frankly this is a horrible thing, undeniable what happened to the kids, but they loved her and they want people to know about her. take a listen. >> tell us about nancy, we don't know much about her. >> nancy was just a lovely woman. a great friend, you know, warm personality. you know, she would just make you smile when she walked into the room. >> you said you wanted to talk about her because there are some things you wanted to clear up. >> well, i've seen a lot of things in the media about her being this survivalist wacko and that was not her at all. she was -- she did have guns, which she used very responsibly. she went shooting with mutual friend of ours who is a retired

new york city police officer. so, you know, he taught her how to shoot, she was very responsible with the gun. she was very responsible person in general. especially in terms of safety. >> and she took the boys to the shooting range. that's been talked about. she did take them to the shooting range. >> from what i understand, yes. >> and what did you want to say about that? >> again, i guess i want to just mimic russ as far as her safety. nancy wouldn't even answer a phone or a text or even look at her text in the car. if i got in her car, it was oops, seat belt, at the first ding. or before the ding happened. so she was just very careful and cautious and responsible. and in regard to, you know,

leaving anything out, as far as a gun, just -- i can't believe that she would do that. >> sebastian, what do you think? tell us about your memory. >> my memories of her, she was a very dignified woman. she had a lot of class. very proper. had a great moral compass. we just saw her, what, three weeks ago, my place, and i left and didn't say bye and she sends me a text, you didn't say bye to me. that's the kind of person she was. polite and nice to you. just a really good person. >> and, brooke, they said, contrary to what people had been saying, she did not work for the school, did not volunteer for the school. she was thinking of moving because she wanted to find a four-year college so he could have as normal an adult life as possible. >> we're learning more him and some of the other victims. i want to talk about, we were here last night, for the president, this town was packed, difficult to move around, just

because when the press president is in town, security is difficult. i want to talk about the governor here, dan malloy, he said something poignant, used this imagery, it is cold and we're close to winter and listen to what he said about the snowfall. >> let me assure you that in winter each time i see the beginning of a snowfall, will be thinking of those 27 souls lost just a few days ago. each time the day gets a little longer, i will think and dream of the lives that might have been and the lives that were so full of grace. and when the flowers start to come out of the ground, and when they rise up, i will know that we are in touch with those that we have lost in the last few

days. >> it gives you goosebumps listening to it again. as we were watching from our live truck, watching them, that memorial and watching the governor, the snow started to fall. >> after that memorial. >> the snow started to fall. >> isn't that amazing? the weather has been indicative of the way people feel, dreary, cold and wet. some people say it is synonymous with tears. i think the whole country, america's heart is broken at this point. >> absolutely. don, thank you so much. we'll talk a little later. and i know a lot of you are reaching out to us, to cnn, how you can help the people here affected in newtown, connecticut. go to cnn.com/impact. cnn.com/impact to learn how you can give. of course, schools across the country are on heightened alert now after newtown's tragedy. we're going to talk to one expert about whether current tactics, what is going on in schools today, drills your children may be going through, should they be changed including whether students should ever fight back.

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one of the first details connecticut state police gave about the mass killing here in newtown, as soon as officers got to sandy hook, they went right into the elementary school. >> on and off duty troopers responded to the call and with police immediately upon arrival entered the school and began a complete active shooter search of the building. >> that is a total switch in tactics and law enforcers say when it comes to what they learned in 1999, in littleton, colorado, the columbine high school shooting, officers there were heavily criticized for not entering the building as they waited for s.w.a.t. teams to arrive. we have learned from the past, what about the future? what will schools do in the wake of what happened here in newtown

on friday morning? ken trump is from the national school safety and security services which helps school districts across the country, security and emergency preparedness. so, ken, welcome to you. i know you are here in newtown, yourself. just off the top here, what were your impressions of what you saw and experienced? >> mine started as a father. i was on my kid's playground, supervising, volunteering at recess time, and 25 years of school safety experience went out the door as a punch in the gut when you hear it occurred at an elementary school. and when i was in newtown, i found it really hard to ask anybody what do you ask people? we know how they feel. i think that it's such a long-term recovery process. we know from other high profile incidents. and i think another concern is the parents across the country are alarmed from -- about asking questions because our most vulnerable children have now

become a target in one of our schools and people are concerned across the country. but they should send their kids to school. >> ken, though, let me ask you, as we're hearing the stories from this principal in particular, who just installed this new security system, you had to ring the doorbell if you were coming to the school after 9:30 in the morning. you know, they seem to be doing all the right things here in newtown. what is the takeaway for schools moving forward? is in a takeaway? >> i want to propose a different way of looking at this slightly. sadly the outcome was tragic. the new security system people have said didn't fail. i would say that it -- we certainly didn't have the desired outcome with no lives lost. but a security system will either deter those who are deterrable or delay others. and i would like to believe it delayed even in seconds the shooter, and that it gave an opportunity for some kids to get

to a safe place. i think that any technology is an extra tool, but we tend to look for a quick fix. technology is going to deter or delay. a second -- seconds can mean the most valuable time. but i think look at the human aspect behind it. you have a principal and a school psychologist who didn't run from the gunman, but went to protect the children. you have teachers who knew to lock down, staff trained, the security system. there are many of the best practices in place that were implemented. i don't know we need to totally throw out the playbook. i know we need to continue to focus on the fundamentals and also look at resources that are dedicated to security, which have been cut back in recent years. >> well, ken, let me bring you back to your point, though you point out what the school psychologist and the principal were sort of lunging at this gunman. i read an article that dawn hochsprung, the principal, was shouting back at a teacher down the hall, close the door, lock it from the inside. what is proper protocol, heaven

forbid something else happens down the road, what should teachers, what should students do? should they fight back? should they run? or should they hide? >> well, i think that there are going to be natural instincts that kick in as it did with the principals and we have seen elsewhere with teachers who have stepped in front of a bullet, who tackled gunman and taken other actions based on the scenario at hand. the best practices have included to practice lockdowns, doing evacuations, certainly some who have been instinctively got out of harm's way. i think we're stepping into some dangerous area if we start talking about teaching elementary kids to throw book bags and backpacks at armed intruders who come in because there are also situations that aren't active shooters, but hostage situations. so do you have one kid stand up, throw a pencil and then get shot and killed by someone who may have been a hostage taker that could have been resolved. lo lots of questions. how do you implement something like that? i think that we need to focus on

a lot of the fundamentals, but and see if we can improve, but i think we also have to look at implementation and age appropriateness and other factors as well. >> absolutely. i'm sure these are conversations being had across the country today and in the coming days in the wake of what happened here on friday among school administrators, teachers and parents across the dinner tables with their little kids. ken trump, thank you for joining me. i appreciate it. >> thank you. we'll be back in just a moment. look, if you have copd like me, you know it can be hard to breathe, and how that feels. copd includes chronic bronchitis and emphysema. spiriva helps control my copd symptoms by keeping my airways open for 24 hours. plus, it reduces copd flare-ups. spiriva is the only once-daily inhaled copd maintenance treatment that does both.

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i'm john berman live in new york. back to new towtown in a moment. syria's vice president is reportedly calling for a national unity government with wide powers to bring about an end to that country's civil war. the comments come as a fresh round of violence shakes syria. said to be taken after syrian government planes bombed a palestinian refugee camp near damascus on sunday. a uk-based human rights group says at least eight people were killed there. meanwhile, vice president farouk al sharia told the lebanese newspaper that neither the rebels nor the current government has the ability to reach an end point. an opposition group says at least 150 people were killed across syria on sunday. south carolina governor nikki haley announced that congressman tim scott will replace outgoing senator jim demint. haley said she was looking for a

conservative fighter. he thanked his mother for not quitting on him. >> when you start out in a single parent household with a mom who works 16 hours a day, and you're looking at a future that doesn't look as bright and you're living in charleston, south carolina, you build the strength that comes from having appreciation and understanding that it is not about you, that it is about your faith, about your family, and i love my mother who is here with me, francis scott. >> governor haley praised the outgoing senator jim demint calling him a conservative rock star. scott takes the reins in january when demint leaves to lead the heritage foundation. we have a big story coming out of the white house this afternoon. the president met again today with house speaker john boehner after boehner made two apparent concussiessions toward averting so-called fiscal cliff. this meeting was 45 minutes long this time.

over the weekend, the speaker proposed raising tax rates on those making over a million dollars a year. cnn has learned he's also proposing a one-year extension of the government's borrowing limit, which could avert yet another ugly debt ceiling debate. meanwhile, congressional source tells us in exchange, speaker boehner is pushing for a trillion dollars in spending cuts including to medicare, which so far the white house has opposed, and for now the president is also holding fast to his desire to raise tax rates on incomes beginning at $250,000. a lot less than the million dollars speaker baner is p erbo proposing now. brooke, back to you in newtown. back here live in newtown on this monday, the tragedy here in connecticut, it has many americans debating gun laws. and today one senator, who is a gun owner, is making some surprising comments about what congress should do very soon. [ male announcer ] this is sheldon, whose long dy setting up the news

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this is newtown, connecticut. and this is the week the funerals begin. in fact, one is beginning just across the street. this is the only undertaker in this town of some 27,000 people. he's been quoted as saying, this is a week from hell. he's faced with the daunting

task of masking some of the wounds from friday's shooting. and we're told, think about the tiny caskets, some will be open, some will be closed. what is happening all around me is the firefighters here at sandy hook fire and rescue, they're unwrapping wreaths from all the way across the country in portland, oregon. there are 20 for the little lives lost. just driving around newtown, you get the sense of community and you see these memorials popping up, like this one, we love you, sandy hook elementary, honk if you love us too. signs, god bless our town. pray for our town. we noticed in the middle of part of town, the big flag is now flying at half-staff. this is the firehouse here where a lot of the families huddled friday morning, learning the fates of their little sons and daughters. we can't cross the street. you can see the sign here, no media beyond this point.

we can't get inside the firehouse. many of these first responders still very much still reeling over what they saw, what they responded to on friday. want to read you a quote, from a volunteer firefighter, 39 years here, he said, i've seen some horrendous things in 39 years as a firefighter. this is the first time i went home and cried. i did manage to talk to two younger firefighters here and they told me really the priority, beyond the community, grief counselors to help them cope with what they saw. back here live, just talking to different people in and around the community and your heart breaks for them. and a lot of people are wondering if what has happened here will change the debate over gun control. president obama hasn't offered specifics as to what he will do. but made it clear, he wants to prevent future tragedies like this one. >> in the coming weeks i'll use whatever power this office holds to engage my fellow citizens from law enforcement, to mental

health professionals, to parents and educators in an effort aimed at preventing more tragedies like this. >> that was the president speaking last night at the high school here. but i want to let you know what a democratic senator from west virginia, here is what joe manchin said. he's weighing in as well. he's a gun owner from a rural state, full of hunters like himself. so this morning he said that when it comes to gun control, it is time for everyone to join the discussion. >> we have got to sit down. i ask all my friends in the nra and i'm a proud nra member and always have been, we need to sit down and move this dialogue to a reasonable approach to fixing it. everything has to be on the table and i think it will be. >> in the west, a lot of gun show customers have newtown on their minds and they have their own ideas as to how the shootings could have been prevented. here is cnn's casey wian.

>> clm byolumbine, virginia tec sikh temple in wisconsin, an oregon shopping mall, even with the mass shootings it has become easier for most americans to carry a gun, own an assault rifle or use high capacity magazines. but in the aftermath of connecticut, voices, most notably from a tearful president obama, are calling for tighter gun control. you won't hear them at a california gun show held the day after the connecticut massacre. >> everybody is in a panic. i've never seen so many people at a gun show. i think they're worried about their second amendment rights. >> reporter: there is sympathy for the victims. >> it is horrible that those children did die. >> reporter: but the solution here, more guns. >> if one of those teachers, one of them, a faculty member, a janitor, had a gun, bam, he would have killed an eighth, nothing compared to what he was capable of doing. you have to allow us to protect ourselves. >> the guns really didn't kill

people. it was the person who was crazy. he was mentally unstable. >> reporter: colorado governor john hickenlooper said two days before the connecticut shooting it is time to consider gun control legislation. but acknowledges it will be difficult. >> i took my son, 10-year-old son out shooting clay pigeons to two weeks ago. that part of it, that part of gun culture is so deeply engrained in colorado. in the united states. literally almost everywhere that to try and change it would be, you know, would be a very difficult thing. >> reporter: there is a precedent. great britain banned nearly all handguns after a shooting in 1996. out of mesa, arizona, elementary school, parents reflected. >> should be more gun control, yes. >> reporter: why do you think that? >> well, guns are -- guns are in the wrong hands are very dangerous. >> guns don't kill people. people kill people. >> definitely should be a gun control. shouldn't be no guns out there,

you know. a lot of crazy people don't know how to handle guns. >> i don't think taking guns out of civilians who are good, contributing members of society are the answer. >> reporter: since the connecticut shooting, more than 100,000 americans have signed an online petition demanding president obama produce legislation limiting access to guns. >> casey wian joins me live from mesa, arizona. casey, just listening to the gun show customers in your piece, they all sort of had similar opinions. did anyone in your crew talk to say they were open to any new restrictions? at all? >> none of them did, brooke. they talked about the issue of gun safety. they supported more controls on violent video games. they were very concerned about mental health issues. but in terms of changing gun laws, the only thing there was support for was less restrictive gun laws. several people told us at the

gun show, and here at this elementary school in mesa, arizona, that they believe more people should be armed and that's the way to prevent more loss of life and tragedies like this one. brooke? >> casey wian for us in arizona. casey, thank you. up next, we want to share this kanscan candid and very di conversation about how parents talk to anderson cooper about how they told their children that their teacher, miss soto, was never coming back to school. begin.

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for sandy hook parents, the location of their child's

classroom made the difference between life and death. the madduxes are among the lucky ones. their second-grader jordan was in a classroom just across the hall from the class of first grade teacher vicki soto, who died, shielding her little students. and just last night, here in newtown, anderson cooper spoke with jordan's parents about how they had to tell her that her favorite teacher, miss soto, had died. >> the first time she told us the story, she told us about hearing the gunshots, her classroom was right behind the principal's office and the conference room that i understand some of the folks were in. >> she was right across the hall from victoria soto's class. >> right. something she was very excited about when she learned that she would be going just across the hall from her favorite teacher. >> miss soto was her teacher last year? >> yes. they spoke, i think, almost daily. and that was the hardest thing to have to tell her. that's when she really broke

down. she was handling most of it okay, trying to process, but when we told her about miss soto, that's when she took it the hardest. >> she knows that she's -- >> yeah, she knows now. >> we waited. we waited until the events of friday were over and until saturday morning. we didn't want her to find out any other way. >> how do you say that a 6-year-old? >> we just explained to her, that, you know, we said, you know what happened yesterday, and honestly she saw enough to understand that there were people that didn't walk out of there. >> she saw somebody -- she saw somebody laying -- >> she saw the principal, yeah. so they had to walk the children out through the front door where her classroom was located, and so she walked past a lot. while they told hem to close their eyes, i think some of them were peeking as kids have a tendency to do. >> she saw the principal on the floor. >> she saw the principal. she saw the blood. she saw -- she told us about a lot of broken glass. >> so when you actually told her

that her former teacher had died, how do you explain that? >> unfortunately it's very simple. you know, we calmly said, jordan, she was one of the teachers who passed away. you know, she had a moment where she paused and her eyes got real wide and she just -- you can just see her heart sink. >> she looked at us and said, you know, who am i going to talk to every day? i said, there are other teachers you'll be able to talk to. but she said, yeah, but she was really funny. >> what was miss soto like? i heard so many great things about her as a teacher. >> she was just a really kind individual. you can tell that she had a heart for her children. each and every one of them. and she -- she meant business, which we loved. >> she was youthful. our first parent teacher

conference, i felt like an old man. who is this -- she seemed barely out of high school herself, but, you know, just a testament to her personality and her nature. >> right. very mature. she was a great teacher. she put everything into what she did. the kids enjoyed learning. there wasn't a day jordan said i don't want to go to school. >> vicki soto, 27 years old, teacher of first grade. a lot of people around here calling her a hero. according to our affiliate wtnh, there were 600 students in sandy hook on friday morning. we'll talk to someone who says the most dangerous person in society is someone he calls a grievance collector. what does that mean? apparently this year that means it is proving to be one of the worst for mass killings. we'll ask why. questions?

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back here live in newtown, since he committed suicide, it is impossible to know why the shooter acted out, why. however, most of us believe the only logic to follow a person who guns down people, young people, 6, 7-year-olds at random, must have had some kind of mental illness. but what specifically could have motivated him here? i want to bring in on the phone with me now is larry barton. he is an expert in threat assessment, managing more than 2900 cases of threats and

assaults and murder. larry, welcome. i know you've been doing this for 28 years. and no two cases are alike. when you talk to people around here, we're talking itty-bitties, 6 and 7-year-olds, will we ever really know the answer to the question why? >> what a great question, brooke. i don't think so. i think it will take months if not years to even get half the story. but the most dangerous person in the workplace and in society is what we call the grievance collector, the person who is upset, maybe with work, with policy, with children, with -- they may have mental illness, they may have grievances with regards to family members, and so, no, i think we'll never have the whole story, but i can guarantee you that law enforcement obviously, the victims and so many witnesses will help us piece together. but between social networking, behavioral signs, and so much else in the shooter's background, it will help us understand not to predict because no one in society can predict violence. it is impossible. there is no one at the fbi or

the american college, no software program, but we're learning more and these horrible tragedies do help us understand the perpetrator and the grievance a little bit more intuitively. >> in your 28 years, larry, have you ever heard of someone in this senseless violence, against young people. young children. what can you tell us about that, the why part? >> there was a pennsylvania school that was actually blown up, you know, five decades ago by a horrific person. so it is not unknown in society, but i will give you my best take and it would be the following. that when a perpetrator crosses the threshold, they no longer see people as human beings. rather they become an object. that object means they have no empathy, no sympathy, don't see them as a human being. and i'm not in any way justifying any of this. i'm just saying if he was, for instance, schizophrenic and 1% of the entire population of the

world according to the howard hughes institute, has schizophrenia. if he was mentally ill, which i believe he was, and if he saw people as objects, it does somehow help us explain his motivation. but obviously in terms of the why and when that day, we may literally never know. >> let me ask you though, larry, in terms of this year in general. we have covered, i'm sick of covering these mass murders and this year, this year, 2012, really goes down as the worst in a decade. why is that? >> well, i believe -- up until this year i was not convinced issues such as the economy were playing a role, but i think what is happening is people are falling out of medical systems, not being reimbursed for medical care. sometimes the drop in society means people are not getting the medications, unable to see their physicians. that's a very serious issue. the other is clearly the whole problem of copycats. if you look at this year, which

is as you said will be the worst, the sikh temple shooting or ft. hood or new york city, we have to not blame young people there is a lot of chatter by so-called experts that say this is mostly done by young people. many of these perpetrators are in their 30s, 40s and 50s. so in terms of why, i think part of it is mental health gaps. but, two, we have to be cart to understand, you were born with intuition. your mom and dad gave you that gift at birth. and if you see or sense someone that you love or someone that you work with or it may be a neighbor, who is struggling with issues, or is just literally beyond bizarre, police will do a wellness check. they'll knock on the door of that person. they'll try to talk with them to find out what is going on and do some soft observation. that's why we have so many wonderful experts in our own community. and in this case we just need more people to speak up.

>> larry barton, thank you for your perspective. >> thank you, brooke. >> back in just a moment. [ male announcer ] research suggests cell health

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we want to return quickly now to the big story out of washington. there has been another meeting at the white house today between the president and house speaker john boehner. a sign, perhaps, of some concrete progress toward averting the so-called fiscal cliff. that looming event that would bring higher taxes for everyone and blunt force government spending cuts, including cuts to the pentagon budget, come january 1st. dana bash is on capitol hill. we have two weeks now to go

until the deadline. but there was this 45-minute meeting at the white house today. what's it all mean? >> reporter: you know, i wish i was a fly on the wall. i'm sure you do too, in that meeting. the fact that it was 45 minutes, you know, it makes you a little bit concerned that maybe if it were longer they would have more progress. but the fact of the matter is over the past four, five days or so, according to sources in both parties, there has been general progress made. and diedra walsh and i have been hearing from sources, both parties, that right now at this point the talks are centered around about a $2 trillion deal, a trillion dollars in spending cuts, about a trillion dollars in tax revenue. we should emphasize this is what the republicans are pushing. democratic sources say they're still not sure big picture, that they could pass this, because much of the spending had to do with changes in medicare that might be hard for democrats to swallow. all of the specifics about rate cuts and things that really divide them are still waiting to hear, but the fact they're talking is definitely a good

sign. given where we are on the calendar. >> the difference is very much still there, but apparently narrowing with speaker boehner now at least agreeing that there could be some actual hikes in the tax rates. >> exactly. exactly. that seemed to be what kind of opened up this progress that we're told about from both sides, the fact that republicans could go for that. now, what he proposed was raising tax rates for people with an income of a million dollars or more. democrats and the president campaigned constantly on the idea of raising tax rates for families making $250,000 or more. that's a nonstarter for the white house. the idea of putting higher tax rates for wealthy americans of any sort to the table was considered a breakthrough. >> dana, the horrific events in newtown in a way cast a shadow over the entire country. washington also. we saw a moment of silence at the senate.

just a few minutes ago. what about action? what are senators saying about actual action on the hill? >> reporter: well, you know this, john, you've been covering politics for years as well, that part of the -- really the main reason we have not seen any action on gun control is because democrats pulled back big time from pushing this issue because they really got crushed politically, red states, from the presidential level, on down. so they just thought it was bad politics. but it does seem that this time, because of the nature of this shooting, because we're talking about small children, there is a different feeling, a different atmosphere here. joe manchin, democratic senator who is an -- he said he thinks there should be stricter gun laws. why do you think this moment may be different? >> because i think it is a logical continuum. if there should be a safe place in america, it is an elementary school. and here in this elementary

school, look what happened. 6-year-olds with 3 to 11 bullets from this bushmaster in their body, 20 of them. is this america? i don't think so. and i think these incidents are going to continue until we do something to change the supply mode of these weapons out in our society. >> reporter: and, john, when i talked to senator feinstein, she just hung up the phone with her democratic colleague from west virginia, joe manchin. the two decided they would come together and talk to senator manchin about ways she might be able to change her legislation to get him on board. that would be from her perspective a big, big deal to help push along this legislation that still has a long way to go. a lot of politics to overcome. >> that would be a big deal, to push some kind of both side of the democratic party. dana bash from capitol hill, thank you very much. when we come back, brooke baldwin will have more on the tragedy from newtown, connecticut. looked away from my screen.

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top of the hour here live on cnn. i'm brooke baldwin in a very gray and rainy and cold newtown, connecticut, where, today, the new reality is setting in. today, parents are living alongside an empty room of a child they lost, left behind in that room, pajamas, favorite toys, books they had always read together, even the smell of their child's pillow. let's not forget the first responders here. they're being called heroes. but they are still living with the images no one could have prepared them to see. today, families are deciding on coffins, deciding on headstones, choosing songs that will play at the funerals of first graders. let me tell you about two little boys here, these two little boys are being remembered right now in newtown. the funeral for 6-year-old jack pinto started just a couple of hours ago.

jack will be laid to rest today in newtown village cemetery. a mourner at jack's funeral says people sang many hymns, the service emphasized a special message for children and reassuring them you're secure now, the worst is over. we're told little jack adored football. his favorite player was new york giants receiver victor cruz. he watches giants games while proudly wearing cruz's jersey. look at that cute cheek. cruz paid tribute to his young fan by scribbling jack pinto, my hero, on one cleat and r.i.p. jack pinto on the other. on his gloves, he wrote, jack pinto this one is for you. >> it was emotional. i was fighting back tears a little bit to do it. and it felt, you know, it felt good. it felt good to honor a family going through so much. they seem look a strong family. i spoke to the older brother, and, he was distraught as well.

he was -- he couldn't say much, just how his brother was, how i was his brother's favorite player. and he was, you know, he was fighting tears. he could barely speak to me. >> also want to tell you about 6-year-old noah pozner. his funeral started a couple of hours ago in nearby monroe, connecticut. his aunt says noah sometimes batted his long eyelashes. he tried to get what he wanted with his eyelashes and he lit up everyone's heart. >> noah was extremely lively. he was really the light of the room, you know. he had a huge heart, and he was so much fun. a little bit rambunctious, lots of spirit. he loved playing with all of his cousins. he loved his twin the most of all, and always said he was, you know, they were best friends. >> noah's twin sister ariel

attended sandy hook elementary school as well. but you see with her story, she was assigned to a different classroom than her brother. ariel escaped the shooting along with their 8-year-old sister, sophia. outside of noah's funeral, well wishers put two teddy bears, a bouquet of white flowers and a single red rose underneath an old maple tree. police in connecticut are piecing together clues trying to find out why, why friday's shooting happened. a law enforcement official says smashed up computers were found and grabbed from the home where the gunman lived. investigators now gathered up all the broken parts to examine them. cnn is also learning that the shooter's mother here, her name was nancy lanza, she was planning to move. a close friend of hers says lanza had told her, quote, this would be her last winter in her current home. and as we continue the conversation, talking about how these families here in newtown are coping, i just want to also

talk about the other folks who are struggling now. the first responders. they were on the scene. they met these grieving parents in those moments of confusion and shock. just a short time ago, after i noticed some wreaths, some 26 wreaths being delivered here, in town, one firefighter stopped and spoke with me. >> how many wreaths are there? >> 26. >> 26 wreaths. so where did they get sent to the firehouse? >> they were sent to the firehouse through u.p.s. >> did you know they were coming? >> no. no, they were -- the truck pulled up and she says i have a delivery of 26 wreaths. we unloaded them all. we figured we would come up with a place to put them. try to keep them all together and shipped all the way from oregon. >> how long have you been here? >> since friday. >> where are you based out of? >> the sandy hook firehouse? >> how long have you been at the firehouse? >> well, we're going home tonight to sleep. >> years. >> years, since high school, i'm

38. >> since high school. you're 38. >> yeah. >> did you ever in a million years think you would be experiencing this in your little town? >> nobody in this town ever would think that, yeah. >> where were you when you heard? >> working. i work across town. we saw the helicopters. >> when you saw the helicopters, what did you think it was? >> not on the scale it was. one or two. we heard the principal at first, and -- as time went on, we got the reports. just didn't believe it. we came down the road. it was just all surreal. seeing all the cars. all this. tough. >> where did you go once you saw the cars? straight to the firehouse? >> straight to the firehouse. from there we just -- >> help us around the world

understand what you as a first responder are going through. >> sadness, anger, guilt in some aspects. >> why guilt? what could you have done? >> exactly. i mean, we're having counseling. as a group. >> can i get your first and last name? >> name's jeffrey thomas. >> jeffrey thomas. since high school. >> since high school. >> finally, what do you make of the wreaths, just people you don't know, sending you all these wreaths to put up in your town? what would you say to the people of portland, oregon? >> thank you. it makes us feel warm to know this is -- it is amazing that people that far away care about us. >> so many people i know care about these people and the town

of newtown, connecticut. so many issues that people are working through, in the aftermath of this tragedy. i want to bring in psychologist wendy walsh who joins me from los angeles. i want to begin with a point that that young firefighter brought up with me, it broke my heart to hear him say guilt. guilt as one of the emotions he's sort of coping with. how do they sort through these emotions in the days after the shooting? >> it is important to remember that survivor's guilt can hit anybody. it is really common, brooke, in first responders, but it is even common in all of us. you know, when i ask people how are you feeling? even my friends and colleagues at cnn when i say how is it going? they say, well, it's terrible, but not as bad as those parents, like somehow it is not okay for us to feel as sad as those parents who felt the loss. obviously their loss is more real, it will last a longer time, but this community grieving, we should all give ourselves time for. it is really important that we

allow ourselves time to grieve because that's where the healing work is done. >> yeah, you talk about survivor's guilt. we hear the stories of people in newtown whose children were in classes across the wall or little one played dead amidst the young folks who didn't make it. and that person survived and these parents walking around sort of with heavy hearts. they feel guilty as well. but also just, wendy, i know people all around the world, you know, i have family members, people have family members, they haven't had a dry eye in days. how do you advise them as they move forward? >> well, you know, we all deal with this kind of emotional trauma in different ways. some people need to be active. the extra ve others need to distract themselves and saying why are they being so oblivious, don't they know what's going on and busy themselves with other things. that's why around funerals, there is a lot of food preparation and bringing of food

because it gives you something to do. still, other people will be numb for a while until a tidal wave of sadness may show up. other people may just feel irritable and angry and not know why. you see those people coming out in giant debate over gun control. either side of the issue, they're quite angry right now. so these are all symptoms of the trauma. and it is important to just sort of allow ourselves to have it for a time, but it is also really important to not act, think or talk out of a place from fear, a place of fear. it is important that we allow our behaviors to be governed by love. and good acts. and like the wreaths you showed that were blizzarde edelivered the firefighters and the people in portland, too. >> i always say it is the little things and it was pretty amazing watching the firefighters sort of hanging these wreaths around town and they knew someone, all the way across the country, cared enough about them and you can just tell it meant the world to them. i want to ask you about something else.

there was a pretty stunning piece, from the blue review, published today in the huffington post, written by a mother, titled i am adam lanza's mother, the shooter here in newtown. her name is liza long. she talks about her bright but troubled 13-year-old son who at times has pulled a knife on her, threatened to kill her, threatened to kill himself. i want to quote her here. she wrote, no one wants to send a 13-year-old genius who loves harry potter and his snuggle animal collection to jail. but our society with its stigma on mental illness and its broken health care system does not provide us with other options. then another tortured soul shoots up a fast food restaurant. a mall. a kindergarten classroom. and we written our hands and say something must be done. how do you respond to that? >> you know, she's dead on. as the conversation has been about gun control, and that's a very valid conversation to be having in these times, i think

the conversation about mental health reform is equally important here. parents, i think about the arizona shooter, you know, who was exhibiting early signs of schizophrenia, he was over the age of 18, once you're over the age of 18, nobody can make you go to a psychiatrist. nobody can make you take your meds. parents love their child, so the best thing they can do is give a roof over his head and food. and i think that that's the important thing is that we -- we're so focused on individual rights and freedoms and of course denying someone their freedom is a bad thing and historically we had atrocities happen with locking people up because they had strange political beliefs like maybe women should have to vote or something in the '20s. we have to give toolsnd access to parents of mentally ill children. or mentally ill young adults more importantly. because our only option is as parents is to keep them and feed them and deal with what they're dealing with, or to put them on the street as homeless, brooke,

i've heard as much as one-third of our prison population are actually suffer from mental illness and are not getting the help they need. >> that is precisely one of her points. she was talking about, what do i do? my child has to be charged with a criminal act for him or her to go to jail. there should be another option. there should be another option and the conversation needs to be had in terms of mental illness in this country. we're having it today. it will continue. wendy walsh, thank you so much. something to be thinking about here as we move forward. for more information, i know a lot of you are reaching out, asking how you can help those affected here in newtown. go to cnn.com/impact. cnn.com/impact and there are multiple ways where you can help, you can give, et cetera. coming up, we'll take you into the streets of newtown including the firehouse. the firehouse where all those parents first heard the news friday morning and we'll show you the funeral home. absolutely overwhelmed right now. plus, we should tell you, take a look at this live picture, the

governor here of the state of connecticut, dan malloy, he will be holding a news conference at the bottom of the hour as soon as we see the governor, we will bring that to you live. live special here from newtown, connecticut. [ male announcer ] red lobster's crabfest ends soon. hurry in and try five succulent entrees, like our tender snow crab paired with savory garlic shrimp. just $12.99. come into red lobster and sea food differently. and introducing 7 lunch choices for just $7.99. ♪ hark how the bells, sweet silver bells ♪ ♪ all seem to say throw care away ♪ ♪ from everywhere, filling the air ♪ [ female announcer ] chex party mix. easy 15-minute homemade recipes you just pop in a microwave. like caramel chocolate drizzles. happier holidays. chex party mix.

[ male announcer ] when diarrhea hits, kaopectate stops it fast. powerful liquid relief speeds to the source. fast. [ male announcer ] stop the uh-oh fast with kaopectate. teachers are oftentimes hailed as heroes, but friday the teachers of sandy hook lived up to the word in a way no teacher ever should have to. last night, anderson cooper here

in newtown spoke with janet vollmer who read to her class of 5-year-old children as this massacre was taking place somewhere beyond her classroom door. they were at sandy hook. a month or so ago her class had just practiced an emergency drill and then friday she heard the loudspeaker, she heard these noises, and she knew things were not right. >> so there were noises that didn't sound correct. so there was no -- anyone telling us that it was a drill, we just thought something was not right. we sat in the cubby area away from the door so no one could see us and read them a story, talked to them, you know, they kept saying how come we're here for so long? i said, well, it will be a little longer. they're 5, you tell them whatever you do to keep them safe and keep them calm. >> this is what i've been thinking about all weekend, though. the courage for you to be able to sit there and read a story, and keep them calm -- >> i think the adrenaline kicks in and you do what you have to do.

there was two other people in the room helping me with, you know, pulling down the blinds and that. i was focused on the kids and keeping them safe. i'm not about to tell them i think something is very bad or very wrong. we waited and waited. and it seemed like a very long time, and maybe it was 20 minutes, half an hour, i'll not sure. there were knocks at the door. it was police, someone, telling us we had to leave. didn't want to open the door at first. but we did. and they said, have the children walk, hold hands, cover their eyes if they could, because he didn't say why, just have them cover their eyes. at 5, covering your eyes and walking isn't so easy. i had them look towards the wall and we went down the hall and out of the building and we got on the sidewalk and i said, boys and girls, remember the adventure we had, we all walked to the firehouse, we're going to do that now again. >> how are you holding up now? you knew -- >> how am i holding up now? you knew a lot of the kid kids.

>> i knew ten of them. ten of the kids were in my class last year. when i heard the names, it is tough. it's tough. i was wanting to attend some of the services. i'm sure some families want privacy. there is a few children who i've had, not just them, i've had their siblings, and in one case i've had all three. so their families were close. at sandy hook school, we're a tight knit group. and we know and i live in the community also. >> you know, something else janet vollmer pointed out, the students need to come back to school, they need to. at this point they are excused until further notice. 20 of the lives lost here in the connecticut school shooting, they were children. just 6 or 7-year-olds. and during last night's vigil at the high school, president obama, he read each and every one of their names. take a look. >> let the little children come to me, jesus said.

and do not hinder them. for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven. charlotte. daniel. olivia. josephine. ana. dylan. madeleine. catherine. chase. jesse. james.

grace. emilie. jack. noah. caroline. jessica. benjamin. avielle. allison. god has called them all home.

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i'm brooke baldwin live in newtown, connecticut. we'll have much more from here in just a moment. but first, john berman is in new york with some of the other stories of the day. hey, john. >> we have a big story coming out of the white house right now. the president met again today with house speaker john boehner after boehner made two apparent

concessions toward averting the so-called fiscal cliff. the meeting this time was about 45 minutes long. over the weekend, the speaker proposed raising tax rates on those making over $1 million a year. cnn also learned that he's proposing a one-year extension of the government's borrowing limit and that could avert yet odd ugly debt ceiling debate. a congressional source tells us in exchange, speaker boehner is pushing for a trillion dollars in spending cuts including to medicare, which the white house has opposed. as for now, the president is holding fast to his desire to raise tax rates on incomes beginning at $250,000. overseas, a veteran syrian statesman rumored last summer to have defected, today is proposing a peaceful end to his country's civil war. he's saying government forces can't win and neither can the rebels. we'll have the story now from london. here's cnn's nic robertson. >> this is pretty strong stuff coming from the vice president. we haven't heard this language from anyone close to the sort of

inner circle. why should we listen to farouk al sharaa. he was the foreign minister in the country. since then, the vice president. he's been under house arrest since the summer. there have been reports he was fleeing the country. those proved not to be true. so he's not somebody who is right at the right-hand side of bashar al assad right now. but it is absolutely unusual in the circumstances right now to have somebody of his stature saying it is time for unity government. he goes beyond that by saying, criticizing bashar al assad saying assad only wants to have a political solution after a military victory. and he says there are people in bashar al assad's baath party that actually support a political solution now. that party leaders around the country, the departmental heads around the country, only do what bashar al assad says. he blames assad for that. he said assad let the economy of the country run down.

that that's the reason that these protests began. that bashar al assad ignored the protesters and that's why it turned to violence. he's laying a lot at the feet of the president here. and this does really seem to be the first time that we're getting insight from somebody close to the inner circle that is calling out and saying it is time for change. he says that if assad doesn't change, find some agreement with the opposition right now, it will be taken out of his hands and into the opposition will have their way. and he also goes on to criticize the rebels and says anyone who sits down at the table now and expects to get everything that they want, then forget it. he said this country will continue to be at war. there will be further bloodshed and further suffering. so he's painting a very dark scenario, but he's laying it at the feet of the president saying that bashar al assad must change and the time to do that is right now, john. >> interesting development. a crack perhaps inside the syrian regime.

thanks to nic robertson in london. now back to newtown, connecticut. hey, brooke. >> john berman, thanks so much. just into us, senator dianne feinstein talking to cnn, poignant statement here, pointed about gun control specifically as she's talking there to dana bash. she is pushing for a ban on assault weapons. we will share with you what she just revealed. also, don lemon, he joins me on his conversation with friends of the gunman's mother. that's next. it's hard to see opportunity in today's challenging environment. unless you have the right perspective. bny mellon wealth management has the vision and experience to look beyond the obvious. we'll uncover opportunities, find hidden risk, and make success a reality. bny mellon wealth management

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this is newtown, connecticut. and this is the week the

funerals begin. in fact, one is beginning just across the street. this is the only undertaker in this town of some 27,000 people. he's been quoted as saying this is a week from hell. he's faced with the daunting task of masking some of the wounds from friday's shooting. and we're told, think about these tiny caskets, some will be open, some will be closed. what is happening all around me is the firefighters here at sandy hook fire and rescue, they're unwrapping wreaths from all the way across the country in portland, oregon. just told me through tears there are 20. 20 for the little lives lost. just driving around newtown, you get the sense of community and you see these memorials popping up, like this one. we love you, sandy hook elementary. honk if you love us too. signs, god bless our town, pray for a town. we noticed in the middle of part

of town a flag, the big flag is now flying at half-staff. this is the firehouse here where a lot of the families huddled friday morning, learning the fates of their little sons and daughters. we can't cross the street. you can see the sign here, no media beyond this point. we can't get inside the firehouse. many of these first responders still very much so reeling over what they saw, what they responded to friday. want to read you a quote, from a volunteer firefighter, 39 years here, he said i've seen some horrendous things in 39 years as a firefighter. this is the first time i went home and cried. i did manage to talk to two younger firefighters here and they told me really the priority, beyond the community, the grief counselors, to help them cope with what they saw. so that was just a look around the town. don lemon joins me. you've been here for a couple of days. i just can't -- all the angels in people's front yards and the balloons and the christmas trees and the ribbons, it is everywhere you turn.

and in memorial of the little lives lost. you want to talk more about the gunman, about his mother, what are you learning? >> well, not that, you know, every time there is something like this, you want to shy away from making that person famous, but there are some clues to his actions, possibly, and to find out why -- >> why. >> why, which is what everyone is asking. you have to go to the people who knew him. his mother's friends, i talked to them about the mother, because they want to talk about her, i asked them about him. what was he like? were there any warning signs? listen. you knew adam? >> yeah. >> what about him? >> he did have asperger's syndrome. he, like many kids that have that, he was very withdrawn, emotionally. but he had -- he was an organic vegan and nobody seems to know that.

and he took that stance because of moral stance about animals providing his food. he didn't want to require them to make that sacrifice. he believed that nothing should have to die so he could live. so it makes the enormity of this tragedy even more bizarre, because he was not violent. he didn't have a problem with anybody. he was very reclusive. he was very private in terms of how he viewed himself and he was always trying to be very inconspicuous, even in public. he didn't want to make them -- himself the center of attention. he never was -- always a very quiet kid. >> he wasn't a bad kid. >> no. not at all. >> how do you explain this? >> i don't. i think we're all -- we're all down here looking for answers.

>> so he's quiet, he's a lone e er, reclusive. those are the signs of -- they're not mutually exclusive, but those are the signs that psychologists and that profilers will tell you that might lead people to -- so they -- there were some warning signs there, but didn't think there were any warning signs there. also, they said, they don't believe he had any connection to the elementary school. but he did go to sandy hook high school. so, but no connection, they believe to the -- >> talking to an expert a moment ago and his point was that if you get to a point, you do not distinguish children versus adults, perhaps, in this case. no one will fully understand why. i want to talk about this new poll. take a look at the numbers here, a new poll, taken after friday's shootings and you look at the number here in a moment. 44% of americanes say they strongly support stricter gun control laws. that is up just a little bit

from 39% back in august. that was after the aurora theater shootings in colorado. the abc "washington post" survey shows 32% oppose stricter gun control laws, that's down from 37% in august. the push for new gun control laws already in the works. dianne feinstein plans to reintroduce her assault ban -- assault weapons ban legislation. we talked so much about that. also new jersey senator frank lautenberg plans a bill that would ban the sale of high capacity magazines. take a listen. >> why do you think this moment may be different? >> because i think it is a logical continuum. if there should be a safe place in america, it is an elementary school. and here in this elementary school, look what happened. 6-year-olds with 3 to 11 bullets from this bushmaster in their body, 20 of them.

is this america? i don't think so. and i think these incidents are going to continue until we do something to change the supply mode of these weapons out in our society. >> it is a gruesome image to think about. but how she said, this is america. i don't think so. here you have the president here in town, just last night, speaking at the high school, and, you know, if you listen to him, he didn't go into specifics, but he certainly said that gun violence, killing america's youth must sop. . >> we can't tolerate this anymore. these tragedies must end. and to end them we must change. >> so supporters of gun rights, they seem to be saying, you know, yes, we need more guns, but i don't know how that momentum is really shifting. >> here's the thing.

can we go back to what dianne feinstein -- >> how about what she said. >> here's the thing. >> yeah. >> if you ask -- listen, we're coming off of 20 kids being shot. these are 6 and 7-year-olds. these are kids who, as i've been saying, going to bolt down the stairs in a few days to see what santa brought them. think about that. >> right. >> does your right -- do you believe your right to own a gun or an assault weapon, we're not talking about taking away people's guns, an assault weapon or automatic rivfle, does that trump my right to be in a movie theater and feel safe, a 6 and 7-year-old to sit in a classroom and feel safe? i don't think so. so that's the conversation we need to have. and when someone says, oh, well, people who say we need to look at the gun laws are trying to take away the second amendment right, not at all. but in the wake of children being slaughtered in an elementary school, if we're not going to talk about it now, when the heck are we going to talk about it? it is disrespectful not to do it

at this point. i think it would be disrespectful not only -- >> some people are frustrated we're having this conversation at all and trying to politicize it or members of congress are trying to politicize it. but i agree. >> we're very good at lighting candles, and saying all the right things, and then we're on to the next tragedy. it will be another shooting, a hurricane, a twister. >> i don't want to cover another one of these. >> thank you. >> i don't want to cover another one of these. don, thank you. coming up, dan malloy set to give a news conference any moment now from hartford, connecticut. we're watching that. we'll bring it to you live. have a good night. here you go. you, too.

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from new york, i'm ali velshi. this is your money. how big should government be and what are you wailing to pay for it? there are 15 days left to avert the fiscal cliff and republicans are finally offering to increase tax rates on the wealthy. speaker boehner proposed an increase on families making a million bucks or more. the white house says it is not enough. but it is a step in the right direction. boehner was back at the white house today to talk about it some more. republicans may be bending slightly but generally oppose more revenue because they feel government already spends too much. so the question is not really about whether millionaires or those making more than $250,000 a year will pay higher rates, the real conversation boils down to the role of government. fareed zakaria were discussing

my contention we should be less concerned with actual rates and be having more of a discussion about the value that americans get for their tax dollars. >> here's the problem with that. americans like government. so what we have for the last 30 years, don, is say we're going to have low taxes, but we still want lots of government. we made up that difference by borrowing. >> speaking of value for your taxes, look at this list of countries rated on a 1 to 10 life satisfaction scale. denmark tops the list. canada at 9. u.s. at 8. france at 7 and japan a measly 4. look at the top tax rates in these countries. americans pay 41.7% when you factor in federal, state and local taxes. dans are happy but pay more, 48%. why? in part because their taxes get them free health care and post secondary education. so, perhaps a more constructive conversation should center on how much we expect to benefit from government services, and how much we're willing to pay for those services.

now, the negotiation between speaker boehner and president obama have given us a new term over which to obsess, chain cpi. it would change the way the federal government calculates inflation and those benefits that are tied to it. normally every year both wages and prices go up. the consumer price index or cpi measures how much prices go up by tracking a basket of goods that americans typically buy. this is used to calculate cost of living adjustments on social security. checks pay a little more each year as prices for what we need go up. one potential flaw in the system is that cpi assumes people don't change the things in the basket. if you're eating more chicken because the price of beef has shot up, cpi doesn't account for that. chain cpi creates a chained baskets of goods to measure inflation more accurately. it is measuring how people actually react to price changes, not simply the fact that prices have changed.

chain cpi would account for the fact you are buying more chicken, when beef becomes too expensive. now that could result in a slower rate of inflation over time, saving the government money on those cost of living adjustments. and on raising tax brackets on what people earn. so why is chain cpi suddenly so vital to the fiscal cliff negotiation? well, it isn't a spending cut, or a tax hike. but it will effectively cut spending and raise taxes on some, saving the government an estimated $300 billion over the next decade. from new york, i'm ali velshi. talk to you same time tomorrow. . omnipotent of opportunity. you know how to mix business... with business. and you...rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle. and go. you can even take a full-size or above. and still pay the mid-size price. i could get used to this. [ male announcer ] yes, you could business pro.

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heads around this grief. we are now about to hear from, in fact, here he is, the governor of connecticut here, dan malloy, speaking at the state capital. take a listen. >> -- i would ask if they are questions directly and specifically related to the investigation of the incident that you refer those questions to lieutenant paul vance, who, by the way, i think is doing an outstanding job, in keeping you all appraised of the circumstances that took place at the school. the lieutenant governor and i each attended a funeral service today. i attended noah's funeral in fairfield and the lieutenant governor attended jack's funeral in newtown. there really are no words to describe what it is like to see these parents as i did on friday, last night, going from room to room, and then again with respect to noah's parents today. it is tough to see relatives and

friends of these little children, who died, and as well as to see some of the teachers who have been so adversely impacted. the reality with respect to the relatives as you try to feel their pain, but you can't, you try to find some words that you hope will be adequate, knowing that they'll be inadequate and you see little coffins and your heart has to ache. so you tell them, you grieve for their loss, you give them a hug and you tell them that their community, their state, and their nation, dare i say the whole world, stands with them and you hope that that makes some difference. past few days have obviously been very difficult ones for anyone living in the state of connecticut or aware of these particularly heinous circumstances. as i said in my televised remarks on saturday night, you see these tragedies play out in other places, and you hope and

you expect that it will never happen in your home, but clearly it did in connecticut. i will repeat something i said on friday and saturday. the families of those victims, their families, their relatives, the brave teachers and administrators at the school who survived and the children who survived, to all of them, let us -- let me say on behalf of the state of connecticut we stand ready to assist you in any way possible, in any way needed to help you heal. so many resources already being -- so many resources are already being brought to bear, but we will bring more, whatever is necessary, and do whatever has to be done to help our state and the community of newtown and specific neighborhood of sandy hook heal. to that end, and this is for all of our citizens, not just on a geographic basis, anyone who is hurting in the state of connecticut, call 211, it is a

crisis line, it is available on a state wide basis, it is available 24 hours a day to connect families with resources that they need to get through these circumstances. and it is staffed by people who it is staffed by people who are trained specialists in handling these situations. we've used the united way and 211 to help coordinate the many offers of services that are pouring in to our state. and we will use many of those resources i'm sure. i want to again thank the president for having come to the state and having pledged to provide on behalf of the federal government the presence that we needed in newtown and any additional services. i also want to comment that he was eloquent, he was moving, he was healing and he was powerful. i think i can speak on behalf of everyone when i say we're grateful for his leadership and

obvious that he is concerned about our state and our people and i'm most appreciative of that. i want to thank the first responders. it's pretty clear now that their very quick response saved lives. we are grateful to them. they put their lives on the line every single day. then there are days like friday when they put their lives on the line and they actually save lives as they clearly did on friday. as a result, children went home and continued their preparations to celebrate christmas or hanukkah. i would like to thank the adults in the school, the teachers, the administrators, all of the adults. those who died trying to save their students are heroes. they gave their lives so others could live. and there are those teachers who saved many lives, they are hero

also. there are a lot of heroes in connecticut today and i'm grateful to all of them. i said in my remarks saturday night that i thought there would be a time for public discussion and that discussion would inevitably occur. as it does every time when a tragedy like this takes place. and i think some people interpreted that to mean that i thought it was inappropriate for those discussions to take place. i do not think it's inappropriate for them to take place. in fact, it's quite appropriate. the point i was making was that no more than 36 hours after the event, my job, my personal job as governor at that moment, was to speak to the people of connecticut about the fears they're feeling, the damage that's been done, and my job was to help and continue to help newtown and the entire state to recover. but we know in our state we have

some of the toughest laws in the nation. i'm going to ask a few questions. is there a law, a policy, we could have had on the books that might have prevented this strategy? it turns out quite clearly the answer is yes, i believe it is yes, and we should pursue that strategy. are we doing enough to reach out to kids and families who are obviously in trouble? my sense is we are not and we need to look at that within our own state and within our own nation. finally, do i think washington, d.c. needs to get its act together and enact stricter gun control laws at the federal level? you bet i do. i'm confident, especially after hearing the president and his address today that perhaps -- and the comments of our own delegate organization that

perhaps the debate will be renewed in washington and lead to a different result, one other than the result that allowed the assault weapons ban to have expired. the debate is already playing out on the national level. if connecticut or i can be a voice on that level, we are prepared to enter that state right now. our focus now is to help get through this terrible time. first, offers of financial assistance, generous offer, are pouring in. i've asked my staff to handle all of this in an organized fashion. i expect to have something further to announce about this in the next day or two. i know that the community of new town is working with united way on this very subject as well and

has set up a fund there. second, i've signed an executive order that will permit monroe and newtown to enter into an agreement concerni ining the us a monroe extra school they have, surplus school, that will allow that school to be used immediately and suspends some of the public notice aspects of entering into that agreement. obviously, this is an emergency. i was prepared to declare a separate emergency, but the reality is, we're still under hurricane sandy emergency so i used that as the basis to execute that executive order. third, i'm asking friday, december 21st, at 9:30 a.m., exactly one week after the horror began to unfold in newtown, that the entire state observe a moment of silence.

i'd like to ask houses of worship with the ability to play bells to do so. 26 bells for the beautiful children and 6 wonderful adults who were killed at the school on that day. i'll be sending a letter of notification to all of the other governors through the nga to ask them to ask their citizens to observe that occasion as well. now i'm happy to take your questions. >> governor, while the federal assault ban has expired, the state ban here in connecticut remains in effect. has been since 1993. seems unclear whether or not this weapon that was seized at this incident was covered by it or not. we also have a unique law on the books that was enacted a couple of years after the lottery shootings, which allows you to report someone who you think is dangerous and has weapons in the house. i think it's called the weapons seizure law. some people call it "report your

neighbor" law, you know the one i'm talking about. those are two of the toughest laws on the books in the country, yet neither one of them helped here. a man shot his way into the school. is there really anything else that could be done -- >> sure -- >> -- to stop thing like -- >> number one, we do use the latter of the two statutes you've referred to. i think we've removed thousands of guns using that statute. secondly with respect to the expiring -- what was otherwise the brady bill or the assault weapons ban, under that legislation, clips were limited to ten. we know that in this case clips were used with 30 cartridges and multiples were used. that one difference could very well have been significant, and i suspect it would have been. you know, these guns aren't used

to hunt deer, and, you know, i'm a big believer in hunting rights, big believer in supporting the second amendment. but there is a reality that this stuff has gone too far, and is too easy to own, and then your -- the whole point of your question is that connecticut has these laws. in the absence of a federal framework in which we limit really the explosive nature of the weapons and ammunition that's used, no state would ever be safe based on simply its own laws. that's why the brady bill, the assault weapons ban was so important. politics played a role into allowing that to expire. politic shogs play a role in having it be reinstituted.

we can't build a building any faster than they can build a building. you know, that's a local issue to be discussed and we'll certainly sit in consultation in that matter. you know, if i had been asked, i would have supported it. i support the brady ban. i was quite active with mayors on the gun issue at the time that the assault